KR100648539B1 - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel game system that enables game continuation after a game stop.

The game screen in the state before the game stop is reproduced, and game continuation is started after the screen reaches the game stop state.

Description

Gaming Device {GAME MACHINE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game device, and more particularly, to a game device that executes image processing in a state in which an object such as a car moves in response to a player's operation in a virtual three-dimensional space.

BACKGROUND With the recent development of computer graphics technology, simulation devices and game devices are widely used for both work and home use. As one of the genres of these devices, there is a driving (car race) game in which a car as an object is moved over a course set in a virtual three-dimensional space (game space), and the course or number of times of course turn is gained popularity. .

The simulation device or game device (hereinafter referred to as a game device) for playing this game is usually a device body incorporating a computer device for executing a game program stored in advance, and an operation signal for instructing movement of an object to be represented by the game. And a manipulator (controller) for giving a computer device to a computer device, a display for displaying an image according to game development by running a game program on the computer device, and an acoustic device for generating sound according to game development.

In this game device, a car (object) that assumes a player as a driver is displayed on the display. The player operates the manipulator to provide the computer device with information such as a travel path and a travel speed. The computer device calculates the behavior of the vehicle in real time according to the operation information to obtain image data of the driving state, and displays the image data on the display.

In the image displayed on the display, not only the player's car but also a road sign and the like are displayed together with the background. The player reads the driving state from the curvature of the driving path displayed on the display, the contents of the sign indicating the curve, the moving state of the surrounding scenery, and the like, and controls the acceleration or deceleration through the manipulator (accelerator pedal, lever, shift lever, etc.). do.

For example, in the simulation apparatus, the more the operation of the manipulator is accurate, the longer the travel distance can be. In addition, in this simulation apparatus, operation | movement in predetermined time is enabled by the input of one unit of coin, for example, and as long as mastery of a driving technique is carried out, it becomes possible to increase a travel distance and a runable time. If the driving technique is immature, the driving distance cannot be increased.

In any case, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the game screen is stopped and operation by the manipulator cannot be continued. At this time, a so-called continuous screen is displayed together. This continuous screen is counted down, and counts down from 10 second, for example, and it is possible to continue the game from the state at the end of the game by inserting a new coin before this 10 second has elapsed.

That is, the game can be continued from the end or pause position of the game without restarting the game from the start point at the start of the game. The continuation method of this game is widely practiced conventionally. According to this method, even if the game is terminated or stopped once, the game can be continued from the middle state without returning to the state at the start of the game.

However, since the game continuity is broken once the game is finished or stopped, once the game is suddenly resumed from the middle of the game, the player cannot cope with the flow speed of the game sufficiently, and thus loses the flow of driving operation and is proficient in driving operation. I can't deal with it. In particular, in the case of a transportation driving game, a fighting game, or the like, the interest of the game may be broken in a game device in which a rapid movement is given to a character on the game such as a vehicle or a person.

An object of the present invention is to provide a continuation technique of a novel game execution process that can solve this problem.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides processing means for executing a game that is continuous in time series based on the player's operation amount from the operation means, stop means for stopping the running state of the game, and continuing the game after the game stops. And a continuation means for resuming the game from the game stop point after reproducing the game execution history state prior to the game stop.

According to the present invention, since the game screen before the game stop is reproduced, the player can recognize the process leading to the game stop. Since the game is resumed from the game stop state through this recognition, the game operation for the game processing after the game stop is consequently able to handle skillfully.

Further, in the present invention, in the process of reproducing the game screen, the player operates the operation terminal so that the input is gradually made effective to the game processing means, so that the player can more proficiently handle game processing after the game continues.

1 is a block diagram of a game device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a characteristic diagram showing a basic configuration of a control state for continuing game processing.

3 is a relation diagram between a game operation amount by a player and a game process during a game state history reproduction period;

4 is a modification of FIG. 3.

5 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a game continuation system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The game device implemented in this embodiment provides a driving game that competes with lap times by traveling around a circumference course (running line).

Fig. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the electrical configuration of this game device. As shown in this figure, the game device includes a game processing board 10. Devices such as an operation device 11, a display 12, a speaker 13, and an external extension connector 14 are electrically connected to the game processing board 10. The player can play a driving game by operating various devices of the operating device 11 while watching the game screen displayed on the display 12.

The game processing board 10 may include a CPU (central processing unit) 21, a geometry processor 22, a system memory 23, a ROM 24 for program data, a boot memory 25, and a bus controller in addition to a counter not shown. Bus arbiter 26, rendering processor 27, graphics memory 28, video DAC 29, audio processor 30, audio memory 31, audio DAC 32, some of these elements. The bus lines 33 are connected to each other.

The CPU realizes each means described in the claims. The system memory is configured to store a game execution process history state. The execution processing history state of the game refers to the game processing state within a predetermined period before the game is stopped by the game over or pause button.

The CPU 21 is connected to the geometry processor 22 and the system memory 23 via the bus line 33, and the first system via the bus arbiter 26 and the bus line 33 is a ROM for program data. (24) and the boot ROM 25, the second system to the operating device 11 via the I / O 34, the third system to the external expansion connector 14, the third system In the audio processor 30, the fourth system is connected to the rendering processor 27, respectively. In addition, the rendering processor 27 is connected to the graphics memory 28 and the video DAC 29. The audio processor 30 is connected to an audio memory 31 and an audio DAC 32.

The system memory 23 stores in advance a predetermined program or image processing program of this apparatus. In addition, the boot ROM 25 stores a system startup program in advance.

The CPU 21 reads the startup program stored in the boot ROM 25 after the power is turned on and starts the system. After that, the CPU 21 performs various operations and controls on the basis of the program built in the system memory ROM 22. Run the process. The processing includes processing for selecting a desired driving mode from a plurality of preset driving modes, processing peculiar to each driving mode, processing of vehicle behavior (simulation), and calculation of special effects.

Behavior calculations simulate the movement of a vehicle in a virtual three-dimensional space (game space). To do this, after the polygon coordinate values of the vehicle are determined in the virtual three-dimensional space, a transformation matrix and shape data (polygon data) for converting the coordinate values into a two-dimensional viewing coordinate system are assigned to the geometry processor 23. The polygon data refers to a coordinate data group of relative coordinates or absolute coordinates of each vertex of a polygon (polygon: mainly a triangle or a rectangle) composed of a plurality of vertices.

In the program data ROM 24 (storage medium), shape data consisting of a plurality of polygons (three-dimensional data such as a character, a terrain, and a background composed of each vertex) is stored in advance. This shape data is sent to the geometry processor 22. The geometry processor 22 performs perspective transformation of the specified shape data with the transformation matrix sent from the CPU 21, and obtains the shape data converted from the coordinate system in the three-dimensional virtual space to the field of view coordinate system. This shape data is sent to the rendering processor 27.

The rendering processor 27 reads the texture data from the graphics memory 28, combines the texture with the shape data of the transformed view coordinate system, and outputs it to the frame buffer in the video DAC 29. Polygon screens (simulation results), such as vehicles and terrain (background), temporarily stored in this frame buffer, and scroll screens, such as character information, are synthesized according to a specified priority, and the final frame image data is generated at predetermined timings. This frame image data is D / A-converted and sent to the display 12, and displayed in real time as a game screen.

The audio processor 30 generates sound data based on the instruction from the CPU 21, and outputs this data to the speaker 13 through the audio DAC 32. As a result, the sound data is power amplified and output as sound from the speaker 13.

In addition, the operating device 11 includes a driving mode selection switch 11a, a steering 11b, an accelerator pedal 11c, a brake pedal 11d, a shift lever 11e, a view change switch 11f and the like that the player operates. Equipped with Accordingly, the player views driving display information such as driving mode selection information, steering angle information, acceleration information, deceleration information, transmission shift position information, and position information of a camera viewpoint placed in a virtual three-dimensional space while viewing the display screen of the display 12. The CPU 21 can be given to the CPU 21 via the I / F 34.                 

With the above configuration, the player is seated at a predetermined position (a position at which the display 12 is directly in front), and the preparation of the game operation is completed by arranging hands and feet on various devices of the operation apparatus 11.

When the game is started, the player operates the vehicle displayed on the screen while watching the image displayed on the display 12. The inside of the image becomes a three-dimensional virtual space so that various operation terminals (handles, gears, accelerator pedals, brake pedals) can be operated on the basis of images that change with time, such as straight lines or curves, uphills, downhills, obstacles, etc. have. The game processing board calculates the behavior of the vehicle from these operation amounts and arranges the vehicle on the traveling path. A virtual camera is arranged in the vicinity of the vehicle (behind the vehicle, or in the driver's eyes, etc.), and a screen is created from the video from the virtual camera and displayed on the screen.

If a predetermined time elapses after the player starts driving, the game processing board executes a control process for game termination (game over) as a form of game stoppage. The game screen is stopped in the game over state at the time of game over. When the game is over, the continuous display is made. The continuous display counts down the clock display from 10 seconds to 0 seconds on the screen. If the player inputs coins during this countdown, the game is completely terminated and game processing can be continued from the stopped state of the game without returning to the initial state at the start.

In the control process for continuation of this game process, as described above, the conventional game device resumes the game process from the still state screen at the game over time point. On the other hand, in the game device described in the present embodiment, after the game state is reproduced from the past state leading to game over, the game processing is continued and resumed from the state of the game over time point.

2 is a basic configuration diagram of the continuation control process of this game. In Fig. 2, the game proceeds in the direction of the time axis of the arrow. Game breakpoints are points or points of game over. Game resume point is a past point or point in the game state to the game stop point. Continuous game processing data from the game stop point to the game restart point are stored in the system memory. The game processing state between both points corresponds to the game execution history state, which is a past history of game progress.

The game execution history state corresponds to, for example, a series of data of game processing for a predetermined time (seconds) or distance. The data includes screen data itself indicating a past game processing state, arithmetic values such as player operation data, coordinates of an object calculated based on the data, and the like. In the latter case, the game processing board recalculates and reproduces the game screen from the game restart point to the game stop point based on this calculation value.

In this FIG. 2, the control state for continuing game processing may be as follows. A form in which the game execution history from the game resume point is reproduced at a time from the game stop state to the game resume point. A form in which the game execution history state from the game stop state to the game restart point is played back in reverse, and the game execution history state is reproduced next.                 

The reproduction amount of the game execution history state is as follows. The execution history reproduction amount of the game, that is, the interval from the game stop point to the game restart point may be fixed or may vary. In the former case, it is a predetermined time, for example, several seconds or a predetermined distance, for example, 50 to 100 m. As an example of the latter case, the game execution history reproduction amount is changed in accordance with the characteristic value of the game state taking the processing speed of the game such as the virtual vehicle speed at the game stop as an example. For example, when the vehicle speed is high, this reproduction amount is increased. In addition, the game board may change the reproduction amount by the time elapsed from game interruption or game over to game restart, and also inputs a command input for arbitrarily setting the reproduction amount by a player or a repairer of the game device. As a setting in the predetermined storage area, for example, the game processing board controls the screen to be played back in reverse while the player keeps pressing the predetermined operation button during reverse play.

In addition, reproduction from the game restart point to the game stop point (game continuation point), rather than the game execution history itself, is also allowed as an embodiment of the present invention. As this reproduction form, you may use the reproduction form in case a player performed ideal operation. For example, when the game is over immediately after the collision (crash), even if the game is continued (continued), the operation is performed after the reproduction is resumed from the game resume until the crash, and the operation is easily carried out, and it is easy to fall into a situation that is easy to crash. The game execution history may be changed and reproduced in a form that does not include a crash or is difficult to crash, and as described later, the player's operation input is made valid from the game restart point and is not desired by the player at the game break point. It may be a form of reproduction that avoids reaching the game state.

In addition, while reproducing the execution history state of the game, the steering wheel operation mode that the player has adopted in the past may be fed back to the steering wheel input device. As a result, the player can preliminarily experience the steering wheel operation during the reproduction period of the game execution history state reaching the game continuation point, and can smoothly transition to the game continuation state.

When the control of Fig. 2 is applied to the game device, a game screen is displayed in which the vehicle returns to its original position from the game stop point to the game restart point, and then a screen in which the vehicle proceeds from the game resume point to the game stop point is displayed. The game processing continues from the point where the car reaches the game stop point. In this sense, game breakpoints coincide with game continue points. However, the game continuation point at which the continuation of the game processing is started may not coincide with the game stop point. For example, the game continuation point may be located slightly before the game stop point.

Next, when a player operates input means such as a steering wheel and a brake, the relationship between this operation and the game continuation will be described. In Fig. 3, the degree of effectiveness is the degree to which the operation amount is reflected in the game process, and the degree of effectiveness being 1 means the degree to which almost all of the operation amount is reflected in the game process. The validity is 1 during the normal game execution processing period. Effectiveness of 0 means that the amount of operation does not affect the game processing at all. The validity is 1 from the game continuation point, and the validity is 0 from the game resume point to the game continuation point. That is, the player cannot control the vehicle at all even when the input terminal is operated from the game resume point to the game continue point.                 

4 is a modification of FIG. 3. The validity gradually changes from 0 to 1 from the game resume point to the game continue point. a indicates that the change rate of the effectiveness is large at the game restart point, and c indicates the case where the change rate of the effectiveness is large at the game continuation point. b indicates that the rate of change is constant from the game resume point to the game continue point. In the case of the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the memory stores the calculated values of the behavior of the vehicle from the game restart point to the game stop point, so that the operation value of the vehicle is gradually added to the stored value to execute the operation calculation of the vehicle. The game is continued from the game continuation point while reproducing the image of the calculation result. Game data after the game continuation point is the player score in the game. By using the input means from the game start point to the game continuation point, the player can make the state after the game continuation point more advantageous than when the game is stopped.

When the validity f is 0 to 1, the game processing board multiplies the player's operation amount by the value of this f and passes it to the game processing means, and the game processing means uses a predetermined value defined by the game program using the input value after correction. Execute the operation process.

In both the embodiments of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the following control operation may be additionally performed. In the game stop state, the operation amount of the input means may end in a specific case. For example, this is the case where the game is over while the vehicle travels on the curve portion of the course. In this case, the game processing board controls the steering wheel from the game restart point to the game continuation point from the neutral position to the steering angle when the game is over. The system memory has a specific memory area for sequentially updating and storing game states within a predetermined time during a game execution period.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the game processing board temporarily stops the game by the pause button, and executes the control operation described later in the case of continuing this. In addition, in a game device having a pose function, the game is continued from the pose state by operating the pose button again. Conventionally, the game continues immediately from the pause state, but the game apparatus according to this embodiment can execute the above-described control operations of FIGS. 2 to 4.

This embodiment is different from the above embodiment as follows. The game processing board displays the effect on the game screen, for example, "automatically reproducing", from the game resume point to the game continue point. The game apparatus has means for selecting whether to continue the game from the game stop point or to continue the game processing after reproducing the game execution history state. The game processing board displays the time required from the game resume point to the game continuation point on the display means, or displays the time required from the game resume point to the game continuation point on the display means by a countdown method. The game state memory method is as follows.

5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating this memory system. The system memory has a memory portion for storing two game execution history states of the area 1 and the area 2. This memory system corresponds to a case where the game resume point from the game resume point is 3 seconds, that is, the automatic reproduction time is 3 seconds.

Areas 1 and 2 are configured to update and store all game processing data within the period every 6 seconds. The memory start timing of each memory area is shifted by 3 seconds. When the pause button is pressed, the game processing board reads the data of the area stored for three seconds or more. The read data is 3 seconds or more, and is automatically reproduced by any of the methods described below.

All stored data of 3 seconds or more are automatically reproduced, and a countdown display is performed from 3 seconds ago to the game continuation point. During the pause, the stored memory of 3 seconds or more is reproduced at high speed, the screen is stopped at the point of 3 seconds before, the automatic reproduction from 3 seconds before the pause is performed, and the countdown display is executed.

By providing the areas 1 and 2, if the game process is stopped at any point in time, the game state for a predetermined time or more is continuously stored as a history.

In the present embodiment, the driving game is taken as an example and described, but it is particularly preferable to apply the present invention to a game in which a character moves quickly, such as a fighting game. The player must cope with the rapid movement of the character when the game continues after the game stops.

There is also a game start method conventionally called rolling start. This rolling start starts a race while driving a car beforehand. The player's input operation is not valid for the game processing board during the driving period of the car before starting. Compared to the game control according to the present invention, this rolling start is the same in that the car is running until it reaches the game continuation point. It differs from the game process for rolling start in that the operation is 100 percent or somewhat effective.

Unlike start or pause, rolling start always has the same starting point of the game, and in general, the point where the operation is shifted to the player often selects a place that does not require frequent operation. There is no need to validate.

According to the present invention, the game can be continued while reproducing the past game state, so that the player can smoothly perform the game processing from the game stop point.

Claims (27)

Processing means for executing a game that is continuous in time series based on the operation of the operation means by the player; Stopping means for temporarily stopping the running state of the game at the stopping point, When the game is continued after the game stops, the reproducing means continues the game processing after reproducing the game execution history state from the resume point to the stop point, and enables the operation by the player from the stop point. Wherein the continuation means causes the continuation of the game processing to be started from the game stop point, and the continuation means to gradually validate the operation input to the processing means from the player during the reproduction period of the game execution history state. The game device which is comprised. The game device according to claim 1, wherein said continuation means is configured to make said operation input fully effective after said game execution history state reaches said game stop point. The input terminal of the inputting means according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the continuation means controls the input terminal of the input means such that the input terminal of the input means controls the operation amount of the game break point after the game execution history state reaches the game stop point. And a game device configured to receive. As a game device for driving a car, A driving operation terminal for the player to operate the car, Game processing means for executing a car driving game in accordance with an operation amount of the driving operation terminal; Game stopping means for executing a process of terminating the game; When the game is continued after the game is finished, the car game processing screen from the point before the end of the game to the end of the game is reproduced on the display means, and in this reproducing process, until the game end time is reached. Continued means for gradually validating the operation of the operation terminal Game driving device for driving a vehicle. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

Images